panels

The Chinese industry has been pulling the prices of solar panels for years. Now 30% of its workers are on the street

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Chinese solar panel manufacturers achieved a crushing domain of the industry with a relentless recipe: mass production, constant improvements and increasingly low prices. Now that they have left out European and American competitors, The whole world depends on its technology. However, this apparent success story hides an internal crisis with serious consequences: a INSUSTANIBLE PRICE WARmillionaire losses and the silent dismissal of tens of thousands of workers. An unprecedented overproduction. Between 2020 and 2023, the Chinese government redirected huge resources of the real estate sector, then in decline, towards what it called the “three new growth industries”: solar panels, electric cars and batteries. This bet unleashed a fever of new factories and Colossal dimensions solar parks. The result was an unprecedented overproduction. According to Reutersthe world now produces twice as much solar panels it needs, most manufactured in China. This market saturation caused a collapse of prices to the point that many companies They started selling below their costs To give out to the stock, a situation that has been aggravated by the war of tariffs with the United States. The Chinese solar industry lost the amazing figure of 60,000 million dollars last year. The human invoice. The least known consequence of this crisis, despite the fact that companies They asked the government for a rescueIt has been a drastic reduction of personnel. The financial reports of the five largest photovoltaic companies in China (Longi Green Energy, Trina Solar, Jinko Solar, Ja Solar and Tongwei) reveal a 31% reduction of their templates, which means that they left 87,000 employees on the street. This figure is a mixture of direct layoffs and non -renovations due to salary or hours cuts. Diseases are a politically very sensitive issue in China, where employment is seen as the key to social stability. Therefore, none of the big companies have officially announced these massive template reductions. With the exception of Longi, who recognized a 5% cut of the template. Beijing tries to stop the bleeding. The main producers created an entity similar to OPEC to control prices and offer, But it didn’t go well. Before the disaster, the Chinese government took action on the matter. In early July, President Xi Jinping asked for the end of the price war. In addition, a fund of 7,000 million dollars was created to buy and close about a third of the lower quality solar panels in the industry. Is it enough? According to a Jefferies analysis, it would be necessary to eliminate at least one 20-30% capacity manufacturing for companies to be profitable again. However, many Chinese provincial governments, evaluated for their ability to create employment and economic growth, are reluctant to apply drastic cuts that affect their local companies. Image | Jinko Solar In Xataka | Neither in Taiwan, nor in China: the plan to manufacture the purest semiconductors in the world is to go to space

China already has a robot that installs 1,000 solar panels per day. It is your weapon to continue dominating renewables

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The world is converting deserts into photovoltaic oasis. In recent years, we have stepped on the accelerator to achieve ambitious objectives of decarbonization (That the amount of energy consumed by AI are slowing down) And they are being built ‘Solar farms‘Absolutely demential. Many are in Chinacountry that has taken renewables seriously, and to build at the rhythm they needhuman labor is not enough. That’s where robots come into play, and they already have one that places 1,000 panels up to date. Saturn. Sunpure is a company that is dedicated to the integration of robots in the photovoltaic industry. We have already talked about them because the key point of a solar farm is not so much the amount of panels it has, but If these are clean. For example, they have a solar energy fed robot that is responsible for Keep panel ranks clean to optimize your energy generation. But they also have the Saturn. Presented A few weeks ago, this robot has a head that allows to raise a pallet of solar panels and an arm capable of taking those panels and placing them in the rails. Precision. Those responsible claim that it takes less than five seconds to calculate the position in which the panel should go, it fixes it with an accuracy of about five millimeters and the four -meter arm allows to operate with both large panels and very large guide structures. Its autonomy is 72 hours and claim that it is between three and four times more efficient than a human by being able to place between 600 and 1,000 panels per day. He is already working in some solar plants and seeing it in action is a hypnotic: Essential. This integration of robotics into photovoltaic farms is striking, but much less is new or original. In Spain we have Robots-Jardineros that take care of the plants, but we are also installing panels with Sunpure saturn robots similar. In the United States, more of the same. There they have maximum, A robot that also works tirelesslyraising and installing panels of up to 40 kilos in trial fields that, according to its creators, will be essential for the future of world energy. Reason does not lack, since the estimate is that 15,000 solar modules per hour are being installed in the US with a weight of 225,000 tons and the objective is to increase that rhythm by 2035 to 50,000 panels per hour. 24/7. The problem? We want more renewable energies, but there are difficulties in finding labor. That’s where this type of robots come into play. In the United States, 90% of solar energy companies have admitted complications When finding qualified personnel for the installation of these farms. With robots that have autonomy for several days, they work tirelessly thanks to sensors that allow operating in any condition of light and protection against water and dust, humans are relegated to “simple” observers, controlling that the machine does its work correctly. Dominate the market. Beyond having robots, whether the first or not, that China is investing in automating the placement of panels to increase the rhythm, responds to a clear declaration of intentions: that of Continue dominating the market with iron fist. The Asian giant has established itself as the greatest power in green energy, with investments of more than 625,000 million dollars in clean energy in 2024 (three times more than what was invested, and that were very focused on it), and that energy already represents 10% of its GDP. In addition to direct implications, it is something that implies that 90% of the Global Polisilicio Production80% of Lithium batteries and about 70% of the magnets of Rare earthall key both renewable and electric car is under its control. And this huge industrial infrastructure is allowing that China handles very interior prices for technology and has become the great supplier of the world in energy matters. And, in the end, it translates into the fact that it produces so cheap that the rest of the countries buy them instead of competing with their own developments. In Xataka | The tractors have competition in the field: El Solix, a solar robot that spreads herbicides, is the test

This loading brows with 192 solar panels and a hybrid system. The most striking thing is that you can do it without crew

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Covered by 192 solar panels, Blue Marlin It seems more a floating installation than a traditional freighter. But under that futuristic aspect a remarkable advance is hidden: this ship, designed to operate in interior waters, is the first in its class capable of Use sun energy to drive. We do not talk about auxiliary or lighting systems on board: panels feed their electrical propulsion system. And best of all, he is already sailing. The technical advance is not alone in the design: it is in how it moves. The Blue Marlin combines solar energy, batteries and diesel generators in a hybrid system capable of adapting to each section of the trip. Under good light conditions, panels can generate up to 35 kilowatts, enough to feed the propulsion system without external help. At other times, what is known as Peak Shaving: Automatic management that allows reducing the use of generators, activating them only when it really takes. Solar panels and diesel: all that at the service of a specific task Solar energy has already been the protagonist in other maritime proposals: since Cruises that install panels on the balconiesuntil Flexible candles with Perovskitas that promise a new generation of sustainable ships. There were even those who, more than a decade ago, dared to go around the world with him larger solar boat ever built. Blue Marlin has not been created to go around the world or to travel oceans. Its objective is much more concrete: transport steel and bulk by northwestern Germany. These types of routes, which cross interior channels, are key to reducing the use of trucks and emissions in the logistics chain. By incorporating electric propulsion, they affirm, Blue Marlin allows you to reduce until 36,000 kilos of CO2 a yeara figure nothing smaller for a single ship. In addition to its hybrid propulsion system, the Blue Marlin incorporates a second relevant innovation: remote navigation. Thanks to Seafar technology, the ship can operate without crew on board in certain stretches of the journey. After overcoming the evidence, the German authorities They have authorized that Blue Marlin Navigate telecontrolled between Salzgitter and Friedrichsfeld. This not only reduces operational costs, it also opens the door to a new logistics model in which part of the control can be done from the ground. One of the biggest challenges of river transport is to maintain operability when water level drops. Blue Marlin has been built with that problem in mind. Your helmet has been designed to guarantee stability and maneuverability With a draft of only 1.10 meters. Thanks to its veth helm propellers and an additional bow propeller, it can maneuver precisely even in complex sections. This capacity makes it a robust tool for an increasingly unpredictable environment. Behind the Blue Marlin there are two key actors: HGK Shipping, that moves 43 million tons per year in Europeand Salzgitter Agresponsible for one of the largest steel productions on the continent. Together they have developed a freighter that not only fulfills a logistics function, but also symbolizes a change of course. The construction has been carried out in several phases and countries, with very demanding standards. Images | HGK Shipping GmbH In Xataka | Soon we will begin to see solar panels everywhere thanks to the Perovskitas. Australia is going to start with ship candles

MANUFACTE POSEVSKITITA SOLAR PANELS

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China not only leads the world production of solar panels: practically has cemented its energy industry About them. After years of betting on The massive expansion of silicon panelsthe country has put its gaze on a more promising technology: Perovskita’s solar cells. The problem? Make them on a large scale It has beenuntil now, a huge technical challenge. However, solving that puzzle is, for China, a strategic issue, and everything indicates that it has just found the key piece that was missing. The missing piece. After three years of work, a group of researchers from the Institute of Applied Chemistry of Changchun – part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences— has found a solution that can make a difference: an ultrafine layer that improves how electricity flows in Perovskita’s solar cells. This is how they have managed to make panels better, last more and, above all, they can be manufactured massively. And that is the piece that was missing so that this technology can make the leap to the global market. More technical. The discovery, Published in Science magazinewhat he has achieved is to create a “self -assembly molecule of double radical”, which acts as a hollow transport layer (HTL). This intermediate layer is key for solar devices to work properly, since it facilitates the movement of the positive charges generated by the light. According to the tests of the Zhou Min team, the new material far duplicates the transport rate of carriers under simulated conditions. And the most impressive: the devices made with it show almost intact yield even after thousands of hours of continuous use. The Kit of the matter. Perovskita’s solar cells have been grabbing headlines for years. And it is not for less: they are cheap, light, efficient and so versatile that they can be placed in Facades, windows either fabric. Everything pointed out that they would be the natural relay of silicon. But there was a problem that did not finish solving: its fragility and how complicated it is to manufacture them on a large scale. In this way, this new material solves those two fronts. On the one hand, it produces improved stability that resists degradation over time. On the other hand, it can be manufactured in a simple and uniform way, even on large surfaces, without losing quality. In addition, the advance has been certified in terms of efficiency by the National Renovable Energies Laboratory. UU. (NREL), which gives it a crucial technical support beyond China’s borders, According to Interesting Engineering. Who seeks to find. China does not want to repeat saturation collapse who lived with silicon. This time, it points higher and further: not only dominate production, but also to improve the next generation of solar panels. With this advance, Perovskita ceases to be a distant promise to become a tangible reality. If technology manages to climb commercially – as the research teams are already planned – we could be witnessing the beginning of a new solar era: cleaner, more efficient and more accessible to all. Image | Chinese Academy of Sciences Xataka | All solar panel technologies that exist and which are more efficient, in a graph that goes 1975 until today

panels that go up and down with the tide

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The solar revolution has reached the sea. What a few years ago seemed unfeasible – generating energy on salt water and with tide – is now a reality in China. The curious thing is who is leading this step: Sinopec, one of the world’s greatest oil companies. A great project. The Chinese oil company Sinopec has announced in a press release That its subsidiary, Qingdao Refining and Chemical Company, has ended and launched the first floating photovoltaic project in China salt water to operate at an industrial scale. The new floating solar plant is located in Qingdao, in the coastal province of Shandong, extending over 60,000 square meters of maritime surface connected directly to the sea. In addition, it will have an installed capacity of 7.5 megawatts, it is able to generate 16.7 million KWH of electricity a year. A technical milestone. Getting a solar plant to work on the sea is not simple. To overcome these multiple challenges of the marine environment, Sinopec has had to apply technical innovations developed in collaboration with national materials and structures. Among the improvements, on the one hand, floats and supports resistant to saline fog and perclabes to extend the useful life of the structure. On the other hand, a marine anchor system has been implemented that supports level 13 winds (equivalent to a typhoon) and tide variations up to 3.5 meters. In addition, the project has available cables and panels near the surface of the water, which improves safety and facilitates maintenance, reducing operational costs. According to PR Newswireanother of innovations is the use of solar panels that rise and fall synchronized with the tide, allowing to reduce the distance between the module and the surface of the water to only a tenth with respect to the traditional structure. This proximity improves thermal dissipation thanks to marine water, which increases efficiency between 5 % and 8 %. This is just the beginning. The oil company does not stop here. Sinopec has announced the expansion of the project with an additional 23 MW plant, which will reinforce the generation capacity of the Energy Park in Qingdao. This effort adds to other initiatives of the same complex, such as the first “neutral carbon” hydrogen station in the country, as well as the first hydrogen production project from seawater in an industrial plant, such as has detailed ST DAily. A trend that grows. The Syopec movement adds to an international trend That is booming. Starting with India, which has already deployed large floating solar parks in reservoirs, such as Ramagundam. For its part, Japan has installed hundreds of small floating plants in urban lakes and reservoirs. Finally, Singapore inaugurated in 2021 one of the largest urban floating solar plants in the world, on the Tengeh reservoir. The commitment to the sun. For more than two decades, China promoted a good part of the global oil growth. Since entry to the WTO in 2001, each section of highway built, each refinery inaugurated, each expanded city or megaproject launched added pressure on the world’s demand for crude oil. However, That trajectory begins to be invested and it seems that it will reach its demand peak in the year 2027. Given these estimates, the great oil company is accelerating its energy transformation towards renewables. Within its great plan is the development of 10,000 photovoltaic plants by 2027, greater geothermal heating capacity in China, a large network of hydrogen stations in the world and the implementation of the first national photovoltaic green hydrogen project. At a time when large oil companies face the challenge of reinventing themselves, Sinopec is drawing an ambitious roadmap. And if these types of projects prosper, it would not be uncommon to see more solar panels floating in the seas of the world in the coming years. Image | Unspash Xataka | The photovoltaic conquest knows no limits: China is filling its seas and reservoirs of solar panels, followed by India

When the heat arrives, the boys fall in love, the solar panels have a fatal and Spain has a new electrical problem

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Summer has arrived with excessive force To Spain. June has closed as the hottest month of which you have a record, and there is no indications that temperatures are going to give truce. The streets are emptied, public parks are deserted, and fans snort day and night as if trying to mark the rhythm of these unbearable days. But while life adapts as it can to this new heat, under the surface – where the invisible network that sustains modern life – heat has also tested the limits of the electrical system. High demand. While millions of people seek refuge under air conditioning, the Spanish electrical system begins to show saturation signals. Extreme heat triggers demand, reduces the efficiency of some sources of renewable generation and generates imbalances in the electricity grid. As collect the Iberian energy market operator (OMIE)on July 1, the price of the megavatio hour reached a peak of 167 euros at 9:00 p.m., an unusual figure for a night strip. The increase coincides with a high demand and a reduced renewable production at the end of the day, which forces the system to rely on more expensive technologies such as natural gas, According to Red Eléctrica España (REE). More heat, more network pressure. To all this is added an urban phenomenon that aggravates the pressure on the network: The island of heat. In cities, asphalt, concrete and lack of vegetation make the heat accumulated during the day stay overnight, raising the temperature several degrees with respect to rural areas. As a result, energy consumption does not descend after sunset, but is kept high for more hours. The households continue to light fans and air conditioning apparatus until well into the morning, which stress the system when the renewables have already fallen from the mix. But with more sun … The logical thing would be to think that with more sunny hours, Solar energy would suffice to meet the growing demand. And in part, it does: According to REE dataon July 1, renewables contributed 50.6 % of the electricity generated in Spain, compared to 49.4 % of non -renewable sources. But that daily average hides what happens in critical hours. From eight or nine in the afternoon, the photovoltaic disappears from the energy mix, just when the demand remains high and the temperature barely yields. At that time, they are the combined cycles – central that burn natural gas – that support the system, with more than 14,000 megawatts generated in some moments of that same night, According to REE data. There is an added problem. Solar does not always yield as expected: As we have already explainedpanels can have efficiency losses between 10 and 25% because of high temperatures. For each additional degree, they can lose up to 0.5 % yield. Nor does wind help too much: heat waves usually come accompanied by atmospheric stability situations that reduce the wind, which also lasts production. Will there be any blackout? Talking about generalized blackouts may seem exaggerated, but comparison with other countries, like the United Statesforces to take the threat seriously. However, the Spanish system has proven to have a certain margin of maneuver. After the blackout of April 28, they were activated Adjustment services to balance the network in case of collapse of the system at critical times. Although it avoids collapse, these mechanisms have a cost: they have more thanked the invoice part, especially for those in the PVPC rate. From that moment on, Ree has maintained an additional safety margin, operating with active backup power plants even when they are not in use, which structurally increases the operation of the system. Beyond the specific episode, that blackout exposed the deficiencies of a system that needs More storage, MicroRedes and greater local response capacity to disturbances. A system under stress. This summer is not only breaking temperature records: the margins of the electrical system is also testing. The combination of prolonged heat, night demand peaks and a more vulnerable renewable generation than expected is stressing the network at critical moments. The renewables are the present and the future, but they are not infallible. Its behavior also depends on the weather. And when the heat waves become the norm and not the exception, the resilience of the system depends on other factors: on the reinforcement of the networks, the storage, the demand management and, above all, to prepare the cities to resist without the most vulnerable paying the price. Image | Pexels Xataka | In a desperate attempt to avoid the blackout, Ree tried to start a gas center seven minutes before the disaster

China has been so close to dying with its solar panels that has made the only logical decision: manufacture less

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China is a colossus in the photovoltaic industry segment. They are not just installing huge parksbut dominate production with iron. So much that they have made The whole world depends on its technology and collapsed the price of the panels, drowning European and American manufacturers. The result of the crazy expansion was An internal price warbut after years of losses in the domestic market, they already propose a solution. Manufacture fewer panels. Storm. In 2020, China presented a zero emission plan Net for 2060. The goal is reduce your considerable carbon footprint and pollution and, for this, They marked That in 2030 there should be at least 1,200 GW of solar and wind capacity installed. The energy began to act, but companies from other sectors saw that there was a lucrative opportunity and got into the business. The result? Market saturation and such a beast production of the modules that were drowning foreign companies, but also to the domestic market. If 1,200 GW of renewables installed in 2030 were needed, only the solar installed in 2024 already surpassed The 880 GW. To the search for solutions. Production folded world demand And prices crashed, with huge companies in the sector asking the State for help To be able to continue in business. In that unsustainable situation for your own industry because They lost money with each salea kind of OPEC For Chinese photovoltaic, the Chinese photovoltaic industry association, or CPPO, with 33 of the main manufacturers signing a self -control commitment. The meeting was held in December last year and its executives are still looking for solutions after years of price wars. This week the Snec pv & is expo 2025 In Shanghai, in which manufacturers and companies around the world have met to evaluate the global situation. And, although we have to wait to see what measures they take, the Asian association of the photovoltaic industry – one of the organizers of the event – is clear that it cannot be followed in this situation. Or we refer to one or sink. As we read in South China Morning Post“The solar industry is not a zero -sum game,” said Zhu Gongshan, president of the association, in the inauguration speech. “We are in this together and the extreme cost of costs and fierce competition are not different from drinking poison to calm thirst,” he said. China installed About 278 GW of solar capacity last year, a figure that represents almost 60% of the new facilities worldwide. And it was the result of an overcapacity that contributed to a fall of 60% of the prices of the solar modules between 2020 and 2024. At the December meeting, one of the measures agreed by the main manufacturers was to respect a minimum recommended price to preserve the margins, and had a moderately positive result in early 2025, with a price rebound. But they don’t loosen the accelerator. The Cpia estimated Between 215 and 255 GW for this year, a cut in front of the amount of last year, but the accounts do not leave and the rhythm of facilities that are being kept is still very high: until April 30, 105 GW had been added, 75% more than what was installed in the same period of the previous year. It is estimated that it was because in January a large number of facilities were carried out and that they will fall 44% in the second half of 2025. One of the measures driven By the Government to reorganize the industry, it entered into force on June 1: sell production at market price instead of a guaranteed rate in the new solar plants. The antidote. “Instead of waiting for a cyclical recovery, we must face a disruptive restructuring in the sector,” said Zhu. And what are the proposals? Several are handled, such as focusing on improving collaboration between the government and companies to confront the offer through regulations or mergers. Another is that I know Bet on technological innovation for both panels and production chain, which will allow sustainable growth and higher benefit margins. That is, not to make the crazy panels that anchored to a technology that can be quickly outdated, but is cheap, but to improve quality and make fewer panels, maintaining a higher price and avoiding saturation. Change of mentality. Another problem is that there are too many things to consider. Those 33 Chinese companies of the CPPO are not the only ones that manufacture panels and there are those who may not respect self -control agreements. But, in addition, these internal problems are added tariff manids imposed by the United States. In the case of panels, Trump’s administration He imposed tariffs of More than 3,500% to the importation of panels from China and 60% to materials such as polisilicio, wafers and Chinese solar cells. China’s response, according to the president of one of the local businesses, should be internationalization. “Due to tariffs, it is no longer enough to export: we must locate production abroad,” said Gao Jifan, president of Trina Solar. We will see what happens, but try to stop that saturation of the market is significant, and that they talk about democrating production can generate a new battle from Western countries that we have already seen with the Chinese car: the one that try to attract the attention of manufacturers. Image | Huasun In Xataka | Solar panels that clean other solar panels: the photovoltaic industry has entered its self -replicant phase

Europe wants solar panels without forced labor. The only problem is that almost everyone comes from China

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In the early 2000s, Europe was consecrated as The largest solar energy manufacturer worldwide. After more than two decades, that dominant position is a memory against the unstoppable advance of China, which has achieved that more than 80% of global production leaves its factories. A paradigm shift. China has a very particular look of seeing the world in the long term, thanks to that philosophy he has managed to position himself as a leader in solar energy. His method has managed to manufacture cheapest solar panels thanks to a subsidy strategy, vertical integration and almost absolute control of supply chains, such as has detailed Bloombergnef. Meanwhile, European manufacturers have had to compete with those priceswhich has triggered a wave of factor closures, bankruptcies and personnel reductions. Europe’s response. The old continent wants to make its own solar panels again, but motivated by an ethical and geopolitical pressure in the sector. According to Financial TimesThe scrutiny over the Xinjiang region, in China, has grown, which concentrates about 20 % of the world production of polysilicio and where various Western governments have denounced violations of human rights and forced labor against the Uigur population. Faced with this, countries like the United Kingdom have taken a firm position. In April, the British Government declared that your state energy company may not use solar panels linked to forced labor. This ethical trend could force European solar developers to rethink their supply chain and prioritize more transparent suppliers, even if they are less competitive in price. There are already measures underway. On the one hand, in a more ambitious attempt to recover part of its energy autonomy, the EU approved last year The Net Zero Industry Law. This regulation forces to consider not only the price, but also criteria such as the resilience of the supply chain, the environmental impact and the local origin by making public purchases of clean technologies. On the other hand, European products will be prioritized in tenders to equip hospitals, public buildings and other state infrastructure with solar energy. According to Solar Power Europe for Financial Timesthis regulation could create a market of up to 9 gigawatts of solar capacity for “resilient” products already in 2026. But the numbers do not lie. The distance with China is abysmal. Today, Chinese solar panels are sold at about $ 0.09 per watt, a radical decrease from the dollar per watt in 2012, According to Bloombergnef. European companies simply cannot compete in costs compared to the scale and efficiency of the Chinese model. There is something more background. Not only is it a matter of assembly, but strategic minerals. In a broader context, starting a mine can take up to 17 years since it is activated all protocols. Instead, China has been assuring its sources of lithium, rare earths, copper and silicon for 20 years. In this way, even with the new EU regulations working perfectly, the so -called “resilience market” would cover less than 14 % of the solar capacity added in Europe, According to Financial Times. And there would be no guarantees that these panels be produced by European manufacturers: they could come from India, South Korea or other countries that do not use materials of Chinese origin. Will it go through the hoop? Here the main question that arises is: Is Europe ready to assume the political economic cost of reindustrializing its solar sector? Or will it accept the dependence of a cheap but geopolitically complex supplier? For now, the measures seem insufficient to significantly alter the structure of the market. The European energy transition progresses, but does it mounted on Chinese panelseven when their governments promote technological and ethical sovereignty speeches in commerce. Europe has aroused a race that she helped to start. Recovering the lost terrain will be difficult. The sun does not expect, and China already closed the umbrella. Image | Climate Group Xataka | Filling mirrors space is a booming business. THE OBJECTIVE: DO NOT MAKE NIGHT ON SOLAR PANELS

Do not get night on solar panels

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Suppose you acquire the power to cancel the night in a certain place in the world; of reflecting sunlight from space to illuminate something concrete, so that it is made from day in a given area. What would you use it? Orbital reflect. A Californian startup wants to obtain this power to illuminate the photovoltaic panels in the hours close to dawn and sunset, when I miss its renewable energy, and when the energy companies could sell more. Orbital reflect has just received 20 million dollars in financing, which will use to deploy a constellation of satellites equipped with gigantic mirrors. Its objective is to reflect sunlight towards Earth on demand. The sun to the letter. The concept is simple: to increase the production of solar energy on the earth directing sunlight to the large photovoltaic plants of the soil before dawn and after sunset. Like the space solar stations, but without the complications of concentrating the energy in a laser or microwave beam, placing large mirrors in orbit would significantly expand the light time that a solar farm receives to generate electricity, solving one of the great Peros of solar energy: its intermittency. The company has already performed tests with a mirror in a hot air balloon at almost 3 km on a solar farm, generating 500 watts of energy per square meter of photovoltaic panel with approximately half of the brightness of the sun. A first demonstration. The first orbital reflect mission is scheduled for the spring of 2026. A demonstration satellite will test a 18 x 18 meter mirror made with mylar plastic tensioning to form a solid reflective surface. It is expected to reach a brightness of 0.1 lux, comparable to a full moon on a clear night. The mission aims to illuminate 10 iconic locations during the night to generate dissemination and public interest. An ambitious goal. The initial idea contemplates a constellation of 57 small satellites in a synchronous polar orbit with the sun, about 600 kilometers of altitude. They would provide about 30 additional minutes of sunlight to photovoltaic plants. In the long term, orbital reflects plans to launch a constellation of thousands of satellites with much larger reflectors, up to 55 x 55 meters. On this scale, the total luminosity of the constellation would be comparable to that of the sun at noon. Other applications. Although the impulse to solar energy is the final objective, the company has plans to generate short and medium term income with other applications. Since its foundation in 2021, the company has received more than 260,000 applications from 157 countries for its sunlight delivery service. Among future services, they offer the lighting of night construction projects, public events, disaster help efforts, and defense operations. “We want it to be as easy as possible: you enter a website, you tell us your GPS coordinates and we send you some sunlight after dusk,” explains the CEO of orbital reflect, Ben Nowack. Science fiction made reality. Image | Orbital reflect In Xataka | Space energy never worked. A military escalation in orbit is making it come true

Having solar panels at home sounds very good in case of national blackout. The problem is that they don’t work

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The national blackout that Spain has suffered It has been historicalbut has also sown the doubt. While the vast majority of citizens ran out of light, in the street there was “life” in some supermarkets or marques that made the use of other renewable alternatives. Surely also, today more than ever many will ask about the need to have a solar installation in their home, which leads us to another question: how does a network of domestic panels work before a national blackout? Installation in normal conditions. Before talking about the case of a blackout as the one that occurred in Spain, it is convenient to explain the most basic of A “standard” installation In a typical home. In most cases, solar panels capture the radiation of the sun and generate what we call DC (DC). This current passes through an investor that converts it in turn in alternating current (CA), and that is precisely what we use in homes. In Spain and in almost all countries, most solar facilities are connected to the electricity network (known systems as on-Grid). This allows, on the one hand, to consume solar energy directly in the house. On the other, pour the surplus to the network (which entitles economic compensation, such as the net balance or Simplified compensation). Finally, of course, it allows you to receive electricity from the network when there is not enough solar generation (for example, at night or on cloudy days). The problem occurs when there is a situation like that occurred yesterday. Installation in blackouts. When you have a photovoltaic installation in the house of only panels and there is a blackout, something contradictory but very important happens: even if you have solar panels working, the sky is sunny and the beginning of the day, your house is also It is left without electricity. As? Yes, this occurs by security regulations (for example, in Europe under the standard VDE 0126-1-1 and similar), all solar investors connected to the network must detect the loss of tension and turn off immediately, is what is called Anti-Isla protection. The reason? The reason for this “cut” is to protect network maintenance technicians: if there were thousands of houses by sending electricity to a supposedly “dead” network, it could be lethal for workers They are at that time repairing the failure. Therefore, if you have only solar panels connected to the network, you cannot use electricity during a blackout. Your solar panels are automatically disconnected. There is no more. The solution: batteries. If you also have batteries, the thing changes, although here the situation varies depending on the type of investor and configuration you have. If you have hybrid investors (solar + battery), there are modern investors that already allow to continue operating in what is called Island or back-up mode. This means that when they detect a blackout, they are physically disconnected from the network and come to feed only your house using solar energy and energy stored in your batteries. In addition, there are also systems for backup investors (The so-called back-up inverters), where a separate system is used that can feed a specific part of the house (for example, fridge, essential lights or internet). One More Thing. But even so, for this to work you need lithium or lead batteries properly sizeda hybrid investor compatible with operation in island mode or an inverter with backup function (Back-UP), a automatic cutting system that separates your home from the public network in case of blackout guaranteeing safety, and finally an electrical panel prepared to isolate non-essential loads (for example, it makes no sense to keep the electric oven or air conditioning on if the energy is limited). In any case and to place all this in perspective in the Spanish landscape, only 33% of facilities Current domestic lots in Spain include batteries. This means that most households with solar panels would continue to suffer electric cuts during a blackout like the one that occurred yesterday. The reasons are very varied, but the extra cost of investment of them after the solar installation (already large) is key. The promise of self -supply. All this leads to a final question: Is it possible to be self -sufficient (energetically) in Spain? The short response is no. The promise of solar self -supply on the peninsula is based on taking advantage of the high solar radiation (Spain receives on average between 1,600 and 2,000 kWh/m²/year) to generate clean energy and reduce dependence on the electricity grid, especially in single -family homes. Thanks to photovoltaic self -consumption and the Price drop Of the solar panels (more than 80% have fallen in the last decade), today it is technically possible to cover between 60% and 80% of the annual consumption of an average house in Spain only with solar energy, and in some cases, almost 100% If appropriate storage batteries are installed (although with the network hitch). The problem. However, self -supply has important limits: solar production is intermittent (there is no generation of night and lowers a lot in winter or cloudy days), the batteries remain expensive (between 4,000 and 9,000 euros a complete domestic installation) and its capacity only allows a few hours or days of autonomy without network. Plus: We already said it, the current legislation requires that the systems connected to the network be disconnected in blackouts if they are not equipped to function in Isla mode, which implies that, without a specific design (and of large disbursement), even with solar panels, you could run out of electricity in general cuts. Image | Pxhere In Xataka | What is the “energy zero” and why the supply can go suddenly but it takes hours to recover In Xataka | Spain is dark: a general blackout has left us all without light

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